Rating: 
Summary: Excellent : useful chapters in bite sized pieces!
Review: The great thing about this book is that the chapters are so short and give you exercises to do right now without a lot of prerequisite preparation. I have written a few stories just based on the exercises. They unearth valuable memories that can be used to enliven stories.The authors also point out that *everybody's* life is printworthy. If you take the time to remember the large tangle of interesting experiences you've had, many can be used in fiction.
Rating:
Summary: fun exercises for a writing group
Review: The writing group I was a part of met in a coffeeshop once a week for many months. On days when none of us had a story to critique, we would pull out this handy little book and start writing. They are short and sweet; they certainly jumpstart the writing. However, now that I am not a part of a writing group, this book is on my shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent concise exercises for new/aspiring writers
Review: These authors teach creative writing and use the results of their classroom curriculum to our benefit. The exercise introduction is by the authors or invited contributors. Each topic contains ample, clear examples to consider before attempting the exercises.
The authors provide concise, succinct instructions, and more importantly, the reasons for each exercise. They also suggest expected outcomes as a result of each exercise's completion. They use student submissions (with permission from the students) to show typical exercise results.
I find this book in tune with my desire to write good fiction and my current writing skill level. I have found the book very useful. I have incorporated several exercises in my daily writing.
I recommend this book to those who do not have easy access
to classroom Creative Writing course work.
Reviewer: David Haseman
Rating:
Summary: A guide for the creative spirit
Review: This book is a wonderful guide for those who enjoy putting pen to page. The exercises take you in small steps from understanding basic principles of writing such as point of view to plot development and revision. The principle behind each exercise is explained and there is usually a student example of the exercise. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for concrete ways to improve their writing.
Rating:
Summary: Much needed Practice!
Review: This fabulous book allows aspiring writers to get in that much needed practice. It has exercises for nearly every facet of your novel or fiction piece: opening lines, dialogue, character development. I was glad that the exercises can be used whether or not you have your own novel or piece of fiction in mind. I can say that these exercises are very stimulating and the student's examples from the workshops really highlight all of the possibilities.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent as a trigger to fiction writing
Review: This handbook was recommended by a writing teacher, and she was spot-on right. I'm primarily a nonfiction writer (memoir, first person essays), and when I began dabbling in fiction, I found myself adrift in a world without fixed borders. At least in nonfiction, I always knew what happened, cuz I'd lived it, right? But with fiction, the sky's the limit. I didn't know where to start - and even more important, I didn't know where or how to end.
What If is a series of exercises that will help make a good writer better and help even experienced writers to craft better stories.
Rating:
Summary: Better than jumper cables
Review: This is a good one - witty and readable, with substance on every page, very good exercises and many valuable comments on craft from outstanding fiction writers. After reading about half of it, I wanted to quit my job and start writing a novel right then, but that's not an option, so I settled for reading it straight through and am now going through it a chapter at a time, doing the exercises in the order they are presented. Bernays and Painter are both obviously wonderful teachers, and for those of us who don't have access to classrooms like theirs, this generous and encouraging text is the next best thing. One caution: This isn't a book for any writer who isn't planning to work at it!
Rating:
Summary: So much more than you bargin for
Review: This is an excellent book for all writers - period. I have used it in my own creative work. But I also use it with the journalling class I teach. Whenever a student tells me of a problem with keeping the journal - I make suggestions from one of the exercises in this book. This is especially true when the students are first trying to write something each day. We work a lot with imaging and placing oneself in a better place. I have found this book to be amazing for helping everyone. A number of my students have bought their own copies. I try to keep a few on hand at the beginning of each new class. Fiction, non-fiction, journalling - whatever you write, I highly recommend this book. Following even several of the exercises will help you over any stumbling block you may have.
Rating:
Summary: Highly practical and interesting
Review: This is an excellent book that gives concise and usefull exercises and tips, rather than babbling about philosophical implications, metaphysical and spiritual nonsense in fiction like other writing workshop authors do. You really get to improve your writing with these simple and fun exercises.
Rating:
Summary: You don't have to be writing the great American novel
Review: to appreciate the writing jumpstarts presented in "What If?" However, the exercises outlined in this book will have you writing, and more importantly, thinking like a writer. More than 75 exercises for the beginning to advanced writer. Welcome this helpful source to your library!
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